This is a really simple card. Three shades of green card, mounted onto a strip of white with hand embossed edges and over stamped with a gorgeous image from Inkadinkado.

Here is one shade of card embossed with three different Cuttlebug embossing folders.

A quick tip here is to emboss the card before cutting to size, as it will shrink by different amounts according to the depth and amount of embossing on each particular folder.

The dies are by Memory Box.

After two cards with little or no stamping, here is one with lots.

I stamped a variety of snowflake images along a length of scrap card and clear embossed them. I inked over the entire piece with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. The strip was then cut to the depth of the card and sub-divided into three pieces.
I marked the position of each piece on the back to save myself from a puzzle when the time came to realign them.
These were then inked from the edges inwards with Broken China and then Stormy Sky inks, using sponge daubers.

These tiles were then triple embossed with clear powder. I believe that the snowflake die is from Marianne's, also clear embossed and trimmed with a few gems. The sentiment is from SU on a reduced size Nestie mount.
The is another version on my personal blog, where I always love to receive visits from you.

This is another solo from me this week. Mandi has been working SO hard with her business and will hopefully be back once things have settled down somewhat.
In the interim we continue to wish her all success.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

This has been an extremely exciting, abominably busy and somewhat stressful week for Mandi, as she is now the proud new owner of Finishing Touches, a wedding services business based on the Isle of Wight.

She has been connected with the company for some months but it's now all hers and I'm sure you would like to join me is wishing her every success in her new venture.

She will not be posting a sample card for our challenge this week as her time has been totally focused on her new endeavour, however I'm sure that you would like to visit her blog HERE, as she has lots of her crafting goodies for sale as she is streamlining her resources. Lots of them are practically unused... I myself have found quite a few bargains, I'm sure you will too.

Sadly she can only mail to UK addresses.

Now onto our theme for this week which is

AUTUMN

You can take your inspiration from colours, festivals, seasonal images... whatever... but don't forget to keep it simple and retain that white space!

This card uses the SU set Autumn Splendour. It's a great leaf image, which together with the acorns, I made into a tile by layering several sheets of die-cut card together, stamping, colouring with watercolour pencils and clear embossing the whole tile.

The background band was scored and the swiped with a couple of colours of Distress ink. The sentiment is by Art Impressions.

This one was inspired by Birgit, one of our wonderful LIMettes who makes the most amazing cards, in a most original style.

The tree dies are by Memory Box and the Octagons by Spellbinders.

The background was merely inked with several shades of Distress ink and then overstamped with SU leaves from the Confetti set.

Here's that great oak leaf stamp again, this time stamped and clear embossed, with one leaf cut out and raised on pop dots to add a little dimension. Another sentiment from Art Impressions.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

We're sorry to be so late in announcing our winners for September, but following Chrissie's absence on her holiday, there wasn't an opportunity for the discussion which normally takes place before a decision is reached, to take place.

However, we have now had that discussion and we are delighted to announce that the winner of t he Freckled Fawn sponsorship prize is

Since joining in with our challenges, Darnell has been a loyal LIMette, submitting beautiful cards each week. The concept of CAS being something which she has embraced whole heartedly since joining us.

This sweet littl ebirdie is form Tim Holtz set Urban Decay [I am actualy selling it in my page on my blog] Distress Inks, Faded Jeans an dTumbled Glass to create the shading.
The sentiment is Close to my Heart.
IRL this shading is much more blended, the camera seems to have bought out the colour changes somehow

This is a really old Stampin Up set Along the Same Lines, but, one I love for it's quirkiness.
Literally stamped nd good old fashioned coloured in using my SU markers.
The sentiment is SU too, seperate set, but, I think it works well with this design.

Chrissie
Before I say anything else I would like to thank Mandi for holding the fort here at LIM so valiantly amidst the excitement of her new business venture, whilst I was away on my month long holiday in California, Nevada and Hawaii!
I really tried to keep up with visiting as many LIMettes as I could via my iPad, but Internet coverage was not always easy, so please accept my apologies if I did not get around to visiting you.
I prepared all my sample cards in advance which was a bit of a marathon in itself, but some may not have been as scintillating as I may have wished, so I hope you will forgive me.
These cards were also prepared before I left for my holiday, as I only got home last night and am still feeling a trifle jet lagged!
I'll post some pics of my holiday on my personal blog soon, but we have our son and DIL plus our daughter and grandchildren staying this weekend so things are somewhat busy around here... but great fun!

Here's that fab bird from the Rubber Stamp Gallery again. This time in a one layer version.
I stamped and then masked him before adding the masked oval and then inking over him using Bashful Blue with an ink duster brush. Before removing the masks, I stamped the various birthday greetings in the space surrounding the bird, and added a single 'happy birthday' underneath.

This aeroplane is from Stampin' Up's Plane and Simple set. I stamped it and then cut a mask from a second image before stamping part of SU's Friendly background stamp over the mask.
The sentiment did start out as being completely one layer, but despite careful placing (as I thought) I wasn't happy with the orientation of the stamp, so I re-did it and added it over the top. I'm sure you've all been there!
Your One Layer Cards go from strength to strength and so many people are much more comfortable with leaving that all important white space.
We can't wait to see what you do with this challenge!

I have needed to make lots of wedding cards recently and here is the gorgeous stamp from Stampin' Up's Love and Laughter set. It's embossed in silver and mounted on a Spellbinders Blossom Tags die-cut. The dry embossing I believe is from a Cuttlebug border folder.

Here is a Memory Box die cut key, mounted on a simple rectangle, cut with a Nestie and embossed with a Cuttlebug mesh embossing folder. The silver mount for this was also cut with a Nestie rectangle, which was adapted in length in order to fit around the embossing. There is a tutorial for adapting the size of die cuts which can be found by looking on our tips and tutorials page at the top of our blog.
The sentiment is from SU's So Happy for you set.

So, I've not got any silver embossing powder...what a weirdo! I had planned to silver emboss this heart, but instead had to use black. I do like the look having said that! The stamp is Stampin Up You Are Loved
Once stamped I added the little flowers and tiny butterfly in a silver pearlescent card, the same as the card base. Then gems and pearls. I really like the random design of this stamp, I like things like that.

Here is a close up

I have another card on my personal blog, if you want to have a looksie!

Have a good week, the weather has turned in the UK, winter is around the corner.